


useless (or not) here i come

by tentententententententententen (diaphanousveil)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Post-Chapter 698 (Naruto), character exploration for sakura, don't ever call sakura useless, kind of fix-it, like she deserves, sakura deserves cool powers like sasuke and naruto get, sakura learns genjutsu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 01:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16692808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diaphanousveil/pseuds/tentententententententententen
Summary: "See, back when I’d just become a genin, Kakashi-sensei told me that I was a genjutsu-type, and I always wanted to learn genjutsu, but we were always so busy with missions and Kakashi-sensei never got around to teaching me any genjutsu, and then Sasuke was the best at genjutsu because of his sharingan and then—I don’t know. After Sasuke left, it felt wrong whenever I thought about learning genjutsu.”“But you want to try now?” Kurenai asked.“Yeah,” said Sakura.





	useless (or not) here i come

“Me? You want me to teach you?” Kurenai looked mildly surprised as she held her cup of tea in mid-air, not drinking it but not setting it down either.

 

“Well, yeah, that was the idea, Kurenai-sensei. If you’d accept me as your student, that is,” Sakura replied.

 

“Yes, of course I’d be happy to accept you as a student. Just…what about Lady Tsunade? You’ve been her model apprentice three or four years now. I can’t claim to be a more skilled kunoichi or more capable instructor than she is.”

 

Sakura smiled. There was certainly no rivaling the fifth Hokage in reputation, although anyone who had seen her drunk and passed out on a pile of paperwork as many times as Sakura had would think twice before calling her capable.

 

“Tsunade-sensei is certainly the best instructor for a medical ninja, and her strength is unmatched, but I’ve been thinking lately that I want to —I don’t know—get a more well-rounded skill set than just what she taught me.”

 

“And you think I could help you get a more ‘well-rounded’ skill set?”

 

“That’s what I was hoping. See, back when I’d just become a genin, Kakashi-sensei told me that I was a genjutsu-type, and I always wanted to learn genjutsu, but we were always so busy with missions and Kakashi-sensei never got around to teaching me any genjutsu, and then Sasuke was the best at genjutsu because of his sharingan and then—I don’t know. After Sasuke left, it felt wrong whenever I thought about learning genjutsu.”

 

“But you want to try now?” Kurenai asked.

 

“Yeah,” said Sakura. “I don’t regret that I focused on medical jutsu and chakra control. They made me strong and helped me protect the people I love. But I’ve spent so long feeling like I wasn’t good at anything. I spent so long watching Naruto and Sasuke from behind. I promised myself over and over again that this time it would be different, this time I wouldn’t be useless. And even though I got stronger, even though I _punched a goddess to pieces_ , it wasn’t enough for me to be able to keep up with Sasuke and Naruto. All I could do was put them both together again after they fell apart.”

 

“That’s no small feat,” said Kurenai. “You’ve come a long way and you have a lot to be proud of.”

 

“I know, and I really am happy with how far I’ve come. But I’ve always had this nagging question in the back of my mind. What if I had learned genjutsu? What if I’d been able to fight Sasuke with genjutsu, able to bring him back and stop him from causing so much damage in the first place?”

 

“There are always scars after a battle,” said Kurenai. “You’re not the only one who’d like to go back and rewrite the past.” She thought of Asuma, of secret meetings and stolen kisses, of the happiness they might have had for decades instead of a few short years. She thought of how Asuma might have looked holding Mirai for the first time, how he might have smiled when she took her first steps.

 

Sakura shifted backwards into her seat.

 

“I know. I know I can’t do anything about it now.”

 

“You can forgive yourself for your past mistakes and be grateful for the lessons you’ve learned. You can treasure the life you have now, the skills you’ve fought for, the people you hold dear.” Kurenai glanced over to the little bed where Mirai was sleeping.

 

“How were you planning to fight a sharingan user with genjutsu, anyway?”

 

Sakura laughed a quiet, little laugh.

 

“I know it sounds kind of ridiculous. The sharingan is ridiculously powerful and I know it doesn’t seem like I could ever match it without a kekkei genkai of my own. But back before Sasuke was even using the sharingan, I sort of had the idea that genjutsu was going to be my thing. Then all of a sudden Sasuke was unbeatable with genjutsu and there wasn’t any point to trying.”

 

Her voice got a little quieter.

 

“The night he—the night he left, I tried to stop him. I begged and begged him to come back. I confessed my feelings for him, I threatened to scream, and just a tiny part of me thought that he was going to listen to me. And then he listened. He stood behind me and told me ‘Thank you’. And then I woke up and I’d been placed under his genjutsu and he was gone.”

 

“So I’m tired of feeling awkward and out of place whenever genjutsu comes up in a conversation. I’m tired of feeling bitter about missed opportunities. I want to learn genjutsu, and I want to be good at it, even if Sasuke is going to be good at it without even trying.”

 

Kurenai met Sakura’s eyes.

 

“Well, that’s quite a lot to take in. I think, yes, I will gladly help you learn genjutsu. Though I wonder why you aren’t going to someone with more experience?”

 

“I’ve seen you in action, Kurenai-sensei,” said Sakura. “You’re definitely the one I want to teach me genjutsu.”

 

“You know, I was made a jonin the same day you made genin? Team 8 was my very first genin team. I’ve never yet even taken a long-term pupil other than them. Shino, Kiba, and Hinata had only just made chunin when I realized that I was pregnant. And I’ve been out of commission since then.” Kurenai sighed, feeling much too young and too old at the same time.

 

“You aren’t thinking of retiring permanently, are you?”

 

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. Mirai is without question my first priority right now. I’ll probably start going on shorter missions again soon. Between Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, there’s no shortage of volunteers to babysit her.”

 

“You can add me to that list as well,” said Sakura.

 

“Thank you,” Kurenai replied. “Well, it’s getting rather late. You should get some rest so we can begin training bright and early tomorrow.”

 

“I look forward to it. I have a sparring match scheduled with Naruto and Sasuke in a month and I can’t wait to catch them off guard.”

 

Sakura took her leave with smiles and thanks, and Kurenai watched her as she headed out. Undoubtedly the strongest kunoichi of her generation, and still looking for ways to get stronger, neither too prideful nor too complacent to ask for help. Kurenai was happy to have her for a new pupil.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first fic for Naruto so please let me know if you enjoyed. Thanks for reading <3!


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